Why it matters
Soft credits let you see the full picture of a relationship without counting money twice. The person who raised $2,000 on a peer-to-peer page did not give $2,000, but they deserve a thank-you that says they made it happen.
Keep the rule simple. The dollars belong to the hard credit donor and go on their tax receipt. The soft credit is recognition only, so it never belongs in your financial totals.
How Steward shows it
When you add a gift in Steward you can soft credit a person already on file. The donor profile shows their own giving and their giving with soft credit as two labelled figures, lists the gifts behind it, and shows what they raised on a fundraising page.
A soft credit never changes a donor's lifetime total, last gift or LYBUNT standing, and the bookkeeper export leaves it out because it is not money.
Related terms
- Hard credit Hard credit is the credit for a gift given to the legal donor, the person or organization whose money it was. The hard credit donor is the one who receives the tax receipt.
- Peer-to-peer fundraising Peer-to-peer fundraising is when supporters raise money on your behalf, each with a personal fundraising page they share with friends, family and colleagues, often for a walk, run or birthday.
- Donor-advised fund (DAF) A donor-advised fund (DAF) is a giving account held at a sponsoring charity. The donor puts money in, takes the tax deduction then, and later recommends grants from the fund to charities like yours.
The free Lost & Found audit reads a giving export in your browser and shows your lapsing donors and what they used to give. Nothing is uploaded. Then bring the same file to a 20-minute demo.